Amusement apparatus



Feb. l5. 1944. c. A. soL|NsK| AMUSEMENT APPARAUS Filed Deo. 14, 1942 @R MNM, Zowf/ M M. A s y m e. a r a Patented Feb. 15, 1944 AMUSEMENT APPARATUS Charles A. Solinski, Chicago, Ill., assgnor to The Exhibit Supply Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application December 14, 1942, Serial No. 469,006

1 Claim.

This invention relates to amusement apparatus and has as its principal object the provision of an amusement apparatus Which will be simple in construction, economical in manufacture and highly efficient in use.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device for exhibiting the power of a physical blow exerted by a person.

A further object of this invention is to provide a coin-freed fist striking apparatus which will measure and indicate the force of a blow exerted by a person employing the apparatus.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in thenovel combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawing showing the preferred form of construction and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of an amusement apparatus embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a skeletonized perspective View of certain operating mechanism employed in my invention;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view of the operating mechanism as seen from line 3--3 in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevational View of the inner face of an indicating mechanism employed in my invention.

This invention concerns arcade devices wherein a person may, upon the deposit of a proper coin, obtain the use of the device for the purpose of exercising his skill and ability. In carrying out my invention I provide an upright cabinet I Il) having a pedestal II and a back panel I2 which houses an indicating mechanism generally indicated at I3.

The pedestal II is approximately elbow height and supports a force receiving member I4 which includes a plunger I5 having a head I6 formed integrally therewith which head I6 is in the form of a horizontal plate I6. The head I6 of the plunger I5 is mounted in a resilient substance I1 in the form of a sponge rubber block in a manner such that the plunger and plate will be normally held in a neutral position by the action of the resilient substance I1 and yet will be permitted to move downwardly when a force is applied to the plate I6' from above. As shown in Fig. 2 the plate I6' is embedded in the sponge rubber block, thus providing a pad I8 above the plate I6 to protect the hand of a person against injury when a blow is exerted upon the member I4. The member I4 is completed by a covering I9 of leather or other suitable fabric.

A lever is pivotally mounted as at 2I to the underside of the top wall of pedestal II and has its short arm disposed beneath the plunger I5 in spaced relation with respect to the latter so that a downward thrust of the plunger I5 will transmit a hammer-like blow to such short arm of the lever 20. The long arm of lever 20 extends rearwardly in the cabinet I0 and normally rests on an offset bracket 22 of an upright plate 23 arranged on a horizontal shelf 24 in cabinet I0.

The indicating mechanism I3 comprises a dial face 25 with graduations illustrating a unit of measure. An arrow 26 carried by a rotatable shaft 21 is arranged concentric with said face 25 to point to a certain indicia of measure. The shaft 21 is supported for rotation in the upper part of the panel I2 and has axed to its inner end a disc 28. A pin 2S extends from the disc 28 and is disposed in the path of movement of a floating lever 30 which is freely mounted on -an extension 21' of the shaft 21 for swinging movement independently thereof. The free end of the floating lever 30 is linked to the extreme end of the long arm of lever 20 by a connecting rod 3I in such a manner as to transmit any action of the lever 20 to the floating lever 30. The foregoing transmittal of action to the lever 30 causes a swinging action thereof whereupon the lever 30 will strike the pin 29 and cause the disc 2B and shaft 21 associated therewith to rotate a distance corresponding to the force applied to the force receiving member I4. The arrow 26 will rotate with the shaft 21 vand hence point to the indicia character on the face 25 to shovlr what force has been exerted.

Means for latching the indicating mechanism in advanced position as heretofore explained is provided by a coin-released latch device comprising a ratchet 28 affixed to the shaft 21 and having its toothed peripheral edge engageable by a pawl 32 which permits advancing rotation of the shaft 21 but prevents retrograde movementthereof. The pawl 32 is pivotally mounted as at 33 on the back of the panel I2 and is spring-urged into engagement with the ratchet 28. The latching means is released by reciprocable rod 34 having a lateral extension 34' adapted to engage the offset end of the pawl 32. This rod 34 is no1'- mally urged upwardly by a spring 35 and has its lower end pivotally connected as at 36 to a bell crank 31 which in turn is pivotally carried as at 31 by the upright plate 23 on the shelf 24 in the cabinet.

The coin release mechanism comprises a reciprocable member 38 slidably arranged on the horizontal shelf 24 and having its ends upturned to provide abutting faces 39 and 40, the member 38 being urged by a spring 4I toward the front of the cabinet. A coin slide 42 of a well-known manufacture is mounted in the front wall of the pedestal Il and has its inner end 43 disposed to travel in a path traversed by the forward abutting face 39 of the member 38 so that when a coin is deposited in the coin slide 42 and the latter is pushed inwardly the inner end 43 will engage the face 39 to shift the member 3B into dotted line position, Fig. 2. An out-turned paddle 44 of the bell crank 31 is normally disposed in the path of movement of the abutting face i6 at the rear of the member 38 so that when the latter is shifted into dotted line position as aforesaid, the abutting face 40 will engage the paddle 44 to urge the latter and the bell crank 31 counterclockwise. This movement of bell crank 31 causes a downward movement of the rod 34 to depress the lateral extension 34 into engagement with thepawl 32 to release the latter from engagement with the ratchet 28 and its associated parts for retrograde movement by action of a weight member 45.

The member 38 has a notch formation 46 in one side wall. A latch 41 pivotally mounted on the offset bracket 22 is normally urged counterclockwise by a spring 48 with a lower arm 4S of the latch 41 abutting the side Wall of the member 36 such that when the latter is urged into dotted line position as aforesaid the arm 49 will engage in notch 46 to latch the member 38 in full inward strokey position. Thus, the indicating means is held in releasing condition to assure return of the arrow to Zero or normal position. As shown in Fig. 3. the latch lever 41 has an obliquely extending arm 50 which is disposed in the path of movement of the lever 20 when the latter is acted upon by the plunger I5, the arrangement being such that when a person strikes the force receiving member i4 to actuate the lever 25 for the purpose of operating the indicating mechanism i3 as heretofore explained, the obliquely disposed arm 5i* will be struck by the long arm of the lever 20 and be rocked counterclockwise (Fig. 3) to withdrawv the lower arm 49 out of notch 46, thus permitting member 33 to return to normal position by its spring 4l. The reciprocable rod 34 will likewise return to its normal position by its spring 35 to permit the pawl 32 to again engage ratchet 3i, thereby latching the latter and the arrow 36 in their advanced position.

A special alarm means is provided for creating a signal when a person has struck the member I4 an unusually powerful blow. This is accomplished by mounting a cam disc 5| on the inner end 21' of the shaft 21 for rotation therewith; the cam 5| has three peripheral surfaces defined as low, medium and high and designated 52, 53 and 54 respectively. A spring leaf switch 55 has one arm 56 thereof in engagement with the low surface 52 of the cam which extends, for example, from 0 to, say, 250 pounds on the dial 25. While the arm 56 is on the lower surface 52 nothing other than a mere indicating by the arrow and dial will result. However, should the indicating device be advanced beyond the indicia, 256 pounds, the arm 56 will be disposed on the medium surface 53' andhence be bent into engagement with a center contact 51 of the switch 55, thus completing an electrical circuit 58 to an electric lamp 56. Thus, it is seen that for extraordinary operation. of the apparatus an illuminated signal will result.

Should the` blow exerted on the member I4 result in an advance of the arrow 26 beyond an indicia, for example, 350 pounds, the arm 56 will be disposed on the high surface 54 of the cam 5l which will cause the arm 56 and contact 51 to be bent into a condition where the center contact 51 engages an outside contact 65 to complete an electric circuit 6| to a bell 62 so as to ring the bell.

While I have illustrated and described thepreferred form of construction for carrying my invention into effect, this is capable of variation and modification without departing from the spirit of the invention. I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desireto avail myself of such variations and modifications as come within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

In combination: an indicator mechanism including a shaft, a ratchet wheel on the shaft and a pin bearing disc on said shaft, mechanism for setting the indicator mechanism in motion comprising a force receiving member, a pivoted lever adapted to engage the pin of said disc, a connection between the lever and said receiving member, means for holding said indicator mechanism in a position moved by said second mentioned mechanism, and means for releasing said holding means, substantially as described.

CHARLES A. SOLINSKI. 

